2014 Les Templiers Men’s Race

Holy dynamic race! From leaders changing hand over and over, to runners leapfrogging lots of places, this year’s men’s race was entertaining from start to finish. Hot off the start line was, well, pretty much all of the top men. The first time we spotted them about eight kilometers into the race, Poland’s Marcin Świerc, the U.S.’s Zach Miller, and the U.K.’s RickyLightfootwere leading a huge men’s pack. At 21k, these three men remained the leaders, though Zach swapped into the point position.

When Zach moved into the lead, he stayed there for the next approximately 50 kilometers. Each time we saw him, he was really working it: huge effort, huge output, huge smile. Well, that is until the very end of the race when the smile disappeared and an expression of discomfort took over. About 5k from the finish, Zach ran out of gas. Between there and the finish, he was passed by four men. He eventually stumbled over the line in fifth place and a full 15 minutes off the winner. A quick recovery and his smile was back, however.

Benôit Cori moved his way into third place by a marathon’s distance into the race, took over second place by 64k, and assumed the lead from the fading Zach just before 70k. Benôit’s had some strong national-level performances in France the last couple years, and his performance today was a true breakout from that.

Second through fourth places Sylvain Court (France), Alex Nichols (U.S.) (post-race interview), and Sage Canaday (U.S.) all also fit into the wise-racing category. Sylvain and Sage spent most of their days in the back half of the men’s top 10, working their way up as the race progressed. And Alex was out of the men’s top 30 at 21k into the race, though he found his way inside the top 10 by the marathon mark. From there, it was only up the rankings for him, as well.

Spain’s Miguel Heras, a last-minute entrant into the race, seemed to play it cool most of the day, running and finishing in the mid- to back-half of the top 10. Emmanuel Gault (France), Clement Petitjean (France), Marcin Świerc(Poland), and Jonas Buud (Sweden) and rounded out the men’s top 10.

2014 Les Templiers Women’s Race

Whereas Beniôt Cori’s win was a last-minute, come-from-behind victory on the men’s side, Núria Picas’s third-straight Grand Trail des Templiers win originated from a place of full-race control, almost from the start to the finish. While Maud Gobert held the early lead, pushing the pace, Núria hung just behind, comfortable. Núria took over the lead somewhere before 31k, a lead she grew as the race went on. By the finish line, she had carved a nine-minute gap from the rest of the field.

Juliette Benedicto (France) and and Magdalena Boulet (U.S.) (post-race interview) dueled all day. The pair came into the 21k aid station in second and third within minutes, and they would appear in this order at every aid station after that, sometimes a minute or more apart, sometimes just a couple seconds. As late as the 67k aid station, Juliette retained the narrowest of margins. At the finish, they were about two minutes apart, Juliette besting Magdalena.

Juliette Benedicto went on to finish second at Grand Trail des Templiers. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

Maud Gobert, of France, ran away with an early lead. Her fast pace eventually slowed and she eased into the fourth-place position. For the race’s entire second half and through the finish, she ran like clockwork, however, steady as she goes.

Magdalena Boulet after finishing in third place. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

The U.S.’s Aliza Lapierre ran an incredibly smart race. Early on, she hung back, letting the nutty start go on without her. By the middle of the race, she charged up the top-10 rankings, eventually into fifth place. She passed Maud after the final aid station to move into fourth, before being passed back to finish just 17 seconds behind Maud in the end.

Meghan Hicks is iRunFar.com's Managing Editor, the author of 'Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running,' and a Contributing Editor at Trail Runner magazine. The converted road runner finished her first trail ultramarathon in 2006 and loves using running to visit the world's wildest places.